Take stairs to stay fit

They came to the conclusion after analyzing benefits of climbing stairs once or twice over the course of a workday.

"I think the key thing here, is that stair-climbing is one of the few everyday activities at a moderate to high intensity that one can do surreptitiously without having to change, use special equipment or look foolish," The Globe and Mail quoted Colin Boreham, a professor at the University College Dublin Institute for Sport and Health as saying.

In the study, boffins asked eight undergraduate women to undertake an eight-week program that started with climbing a 199-step staircase twice a day, five days a week, climbing 90 steps a minute.

Compared to a group of matched controls, 17 per cent of aerobic fitness increased in the stair-climbers and reduced harmful LDL cholesterol by 8 per cent.

By the end of the study they all were climbing averagely five times in a whole day that was equivalent to 10 minutes of exercise a day.

"Because it`s at such a high intensity, it accomplishes health adaptations in a shorter period, which is handy if you like your exercise in short bites," says Dr. Boreham.